The PhonePages of Sweden is one company making this possible by linking personalized or company-related information to phone numbers.

"A person could, for example, link a photo of himself, a guest book, a diary or a business card to his mobile number," says Jan Hörnström, director of marketing. "When someone calls, he has the option to look at the information by clicking on selected icons. The add-on services easily increase the traffic in the operator’s network."

The service also works with fixed telephone numbers. A phone number could, for example, link to a company's address, to a map showing where it is located, and to opening hours. A phone directory company in Finland is using a solution from The PhonePages to market mobile info pages to its customers.

"Thanks to Ericsson’s Network Resource Gateway (NRG) we can develop a range of services and connect them directly to the platform without having to interfere and make changes in the network," Hörnström says.

An important aim is to support the easy creation of applications that rely on underlying functions in the telecom network. NRG 3.0, which is commercially deployed, is based on the standardized protocol Parlay/OSA, and runs on Ericsson Telecom Server Platform 4.0 and 4.1.

NRG is an integrator for launching new applications on top of different mobile and fixed networks – PSTN as well as GSM, GPRS and WCDMA. It also makes new types of IT applications possible that combine the capabilities of the telecom networks with the rich interface available for messaging (SMS and MMS).

Another benefit is that NRG 3.0 acts as a firewall to protect the telecom networks. It ensures that the application's access to the network is always carried out in a controlled and reliable way. Throttling mechanisms also ensure protection from network overload, for example when an application tries to send tens-of-thousands of MMS messages in a couple of seconds.

Such applications will become a growing source of income for operators. They will be even more important when 3G networks reach the mass market. An operator can include NRG 3.0 in its own network as a gateway. This gives the operator the option of letting third-party suppliers run applications on its own servers. The operator can also choose to keep control of all applications.

The interface between NRG 3.0 and the application servers consists of well-defined and standardized Application Protocol Interfaces (APIs). The designers of applications need only pay attention to these APIs. They do not need to dive deep into the intricacies of dedicated telecommunication network protocols.

Information about the strength of NRG 3.0 is being targeted at third-party application developers. Ericsson Mobility World is the main vehicle for such information and will also provide developers with a free NRG 3.0development kit.

The PhonePages solution works with Ericsson NRG. It is an advanced and easy-to-integrate solution keeping track of the information behind the phone numbers by using the Parlay API, which pushes content automatically to callers.

To access personal phone pages, or Mobile Internet content, the operator could automatically generate standardized phone pages for all mobile numbers and fixed numbers. Each company and individual could also alter the information and add pictures using an easy-to-use web interface.

Hörnström says: "This way, our solution can be deployed in a whole market, creating new revenues for the operator and helping the company reach the wireless space with its offerings and information. Consumers will get an additional degree of freedom to share personal information, including images."

Karin Hanson/Hendrik Bergstén/Mats Udikas